


It’s war.

by EXOpressRailway



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1950s, Korean War, M/M, War, World War II, side!BaekXing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 19:41:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14244366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EXOpressRailway/pseuds/EXOpressRailway
Summary: Lu Han and Minseok met during WWII, fighting a common enemy. They meet again years later; this time, facing each other.





	It’s war.

**Author's Note:**

> Title: It’s war.  
> Ticket No. 531  
> Warnings: War, death of supportive characters, violence  
> Pairing: Luhan / Xiumin  
> Side Pairing(s): Baekhyun / Yixing  
> Time Period: WWII / Korean War  
> Author's Note: This fic proved to be more difficult to write than I originally expected due to its history background. At this point I need to state that the viewpoints in the fic reflect historical facts. I hope the prompter will be satisfied with the work I put in this fic. I tried to follow the facts as closely as I could with a few adaptations were needed.

_March 1922 – Keijō, Korea_

A crying baby, a tired mother, and a restless father hide in their small house in the countryside of Korea. A small boy with beautiful round eyes and chubby cheeks who would grow up in hunger and war. A boy who would learn what captivity and lack of freedom mean. A boy who would still be cheerful around his parents but run into the night to the closest kitchen garden and steal food from the Japanese landlords. A boy that becomes a man way before his time. Minseok.

 

_April 1922 – Beiping, China_

A healthy boy is born. His mother holds him close and covers him in blankets. His father is still on the phone talking about the Party’s next move. He barely registers the baby’s cry. The baby can wait, the war can’t. The Beiyang Government was still at risk. With the tension between the Anhui side and the Zhili side, the Japanese constantly trying to find ways to interrupt and gain power and lands, every move was crucial. The baby cried a lot that day, the war waited for one more. Lu Han would be stronger from then on.

 

_February 1933 – Keijō, Korea_

Minseok knew they had problems, his father had sold his store long before Minseok was even born. They were extremely poor but they still managed by keeping some of the vegetables they grew on their farm. Of course most of it was sold to their landlord, some Japanese business man that had half the farms in the village. Minseok used to sneak out of his bed and run all the way to the next farm to still some corns that his family didn’t have. Of course his mother had yell at him of how dangerous it was but Minseok didn’t care, he knew how much his sister liked it and wanted to give them to her.

That year had been especially difficult for them. The winter was ruthless with temperatures below zero that not only ruined their crop but resulted to his father getting sick from working in these conditions. All these barely mattered to the landlord though, who had Minseok’s family killed when he didn’t get his money or products in time. Lucky or not, Minseok was the only one to survive because that was one of the nights he had sneaked out of the house. That time he had gotten further to get some chestnuts and by the time he came home everyone was dead.

He cried a lot hugging his mother in his small hands, seeing his sister in her crib with her timeworn blanket, his father in the middle of their kitchen blood running through the open wound in his chest. He cried a lot. He stayed there and cried even after the police came and took his parents and sister. He cried again when he followed his grandmother back to Guri. And then he stopped because he had to survive.

 

_May 1935 - Keijō, Korea_

After his grandmother died, Minseok had to find a way to survive. Life in Korea hadn’t changed in any better way, the Japanese still owned most of the Korean lands and on top of that they continued their war all while recruiting Koreans. And so Minseok joined as well the Korean Japanese Army, his only way of survival, his only way of a shelter and a plate of food. In the army he leaned how to use a gun, martial arts and hand to hand combat. He also learned how to speak Japanese fluently and how to converse in Chinese. Soon enough he was sent to the field along with other Korean boys without a family or a purpose.

 

_July 1937 – Beiping, China_

Loud noise could be heard from outside his window, people screaming, cars honking, the siren of the city echoed everywhere. He hadn’t seen his father for almost a week. The ordered had come in the middle of the night then too. “Leave, go to your designated positions we are under attack”. Now they asked them to abandon the city.

The Japanese had come too close, it was dangerous for the people. Planes could be heard behind the heavy clouds, bombs dropped here and there, screams.

“Mom, it’s time.” Lu Han had said to his mother. He had helped her out of the house, their small luggage in hand. “Run” he had said to her when they had seen the troops. “Hide.”

And she did. She fit her small body inside a whole in a building, threw some debris on her and held her breath praying to the gods to help her and her child. Lu Han had run to the opposite direction. He climbed on a staircase searching for a hideout. He made a poor decision, opening a door and hiding behind.

He could hear footsteps, people running up the stairs, breaking doors and yelling. Someone opened the door he was hiding behind, he held his breath. He was met with the pair of cat like eyes. A face as youthful as his yet covered with dust and sweat. Hey looked at each other for a brief moment.

“Go” the other mouthed before he closed the door again. “Clear” he heard him say to his comrades.

Why the other had decided to spear his life Lu Han couldn’t know, but he would be indept of the boy for the rest of his life. When he couldn’t hear anyone else he stormed out of the building searching for his mother. As soon as he found her he led her to the place his father had pointed before he had left. A car was waiting for them ready to take them to Changsha, Yi Xing was already inside.

 

Minseok leaned on the wall, finally getting rid of the weight of his gun and equipment. He had been in the field for two days straight, his small body working on pure adrenaline. He didn’t know and couldn’t understand how terrible the war was until he had seen it with his own eyes.  Bodies everywhere, screams, pain, for what? He thought of the kid he had let go. He couldn’t be much younger than him but he was still a kid, frightened, alone. ‘Why would he have to die?’ he had thought and so he let him go, lying to his comrades. He thought of his sister, how she died before she could even take her first steps. He sighed. He hoped the boy survived.

 

Upon arriving to Changsha Lu Han, his mother and Yi Xing, his friend who had come with them, went to live with his mother’s sister. It didn’t take long before the news of his father’s death reached them. It didn’t take long either before the letter of enlistment came in the form of two soldiers knocking on their door and giving him and Yi Xing their uniforms. It wasn’t long before they headed to the military base. They had to train the best way they could and time wasn’t in their favor. After the fall of Beiping and Nanjing, Changsha would be the next target of the Japanese.

 

_September 1939 – Changsha, China_

Lu Han run to hide behind a turned over car to cover himself from the firing. They were able to counterattack the Japanese with great success. As General Chen had predicted their army had weakened from the constant fights and starvation. From all they knew they had managed to keep them outside the city zone and the Gan River.

Lu Han turned to look at Yi Xing waiting for his nod before he returned the fire. “Retreat!” he heard the Japanese say as the run into the woods. When the field was cleared Lu Han and his team followed. They were instructed to leave no one alive. No prisoners would be taken. He could hear the others killing some of the soldiers that were left behind.

He spotted one in the distance running to hide in the shadows of the trees. He was injured, he could barely put any weight on his left foot. He could probably take him from here, his aim one of the best in his division, but he decided to approach the other.

There wasn’t much the other could do, even if Lu Han left him there he would probably die from bleeding. But Lu Han approached him nevertheless, he even kneeled in front of the other, ignoring his instincts that told him that he other could hurt him even in his current state.

He stared at the other’s pained expression clearly shown on his big cat like eyes. His face was as young as Lu Han remembered albeit with a few scars. “It’s you,” he said. “You are the one that let me go that time in Beiping.” He had even surprised himself with how calmed he sounded at a moment like this. Of how unprofessional he was, ignoring his orders and conversing with the enemy.

“Yes, it’s me” the other replied, breath coming out difficulty. “I am glad you are still alive.”

“I am Lu Han, I came here to kill you,” he kept staring at the other’s eyes. There was no fear there either as if it didn’t matter if he died or not. He noticed the other’s appearance, dirty, ripped clothes, wounds here and there. His gun left on the ground.

“Minseok,” the other replied staring back. “Will you?” he asked.

“I was thinking that I shouldn’t. I owe you right?” Lu Han smiled. “Yi Xing come here” he yelled to his friend.

“Lu Han, what are you doing? We are not supposed to take prisoners!” Yi Xing said pointing his gun to Minseok, the other didn’t even bother to look at him.

Lu Han signaled him to lower it. “Change of plans we will get one. Tell Tao to prepare the car and Yi Fan to be ready, he needs treatment. And come back to help me.”

“Are you sure about this?” Minseok questioned. “It’s one thing letting me live another taking me as a hostage.”

“Oh don’t worry, you won’t be a hostage either,” Lu Ha replied helping Minseok on his good foot.

“What do you mean?” the Korean asked.

“You are not Japanese right?” Lu Han looked at the other. “No, you don’t look like them.”

“No, I am Korean.”

“Great, then there is someone you need to meet,” Lu Han said before letting Yi Fan take care of Minseok’s wounds ignoring the perplexed look on his face.

 

“What are you going to do with him?” Yi Xing asked as soon as Lu Han was alone. “You know you are going against the orders.”

“I count on my friends not to tell anyone,” Lu Han smiled, reminding Yi Xing how playful Lu Han used to be when they were younger and played at the streets, when the other wanted to do something mischievous and he would smile like he had just formed the best plan in the world. It usually led to a disaster that Yi Xing hoped they could avoid at least this time.

“You are such an idiot. Lu Han this is war not the games we used to play as kids. How are you even trusting him?” the other asked pointing at Minseok.

“He is the one the saved me back then,” Lu Han shrugged. “Plus, I think he is going to be useful to us.”

“How?” Yi Xing couldn’t but ask. He even folded his hands in an attempt to look more serious, puffing his chest to tower over Lu Han.

“Remember I told about that General in ChungKing, the Korean one that sent help the other day? He is trying to make an army of Koreans here to fight against the Japanese. We might not be able to use him but someone else will and he will help. I doubt he would mind going against the Japanese,” Lu Han explained.

“Still how can you be so sure?” Yi Xing pried.

“I am not,” Lu Han said and went close to Minseok again. Yi Xing sighed. “We will make a stop before going back to the base,” Lu Han instructed Tao.

 

When the track stopped only Lu Han climbed out. “Minseok, come” he said offering the smaller man a hand.

Even with the treatment Minseok got from the freakishly tall man he was in too much pain. Lu Han held him from his waist to support most of Minseok’s weight. “You will stay here for a while. They will take care of you. I will come to see you as soon as I can, there is a lot we need to talk about,” he said as he rang the doorbell. “Hey mom.” Minseok could but gasp. Not only the other had taken him but he had also brought him home.

After a lot of talking and arguing Lu Han convinced both Minseok and his mother to let Minseok stay in their house and treat his wounds with a promise that he would come back soon. “Think of it as you are taking care of your son,” he had said to her.

Was he crazy? Probably. Would he regret it? Possibly. Was it worth it? Maybe. Did it feel right? Definitely.

He went back to the track where his comrades were waiting for him. They didn’t question him which was a dead giveaway that they were judging him but only time could show if he did the right thing or not.

 

Lu Han came back a month later, after the Chinese had successfully secured their region south the Yanzhe River. The Japanese would attack again, for sure, but for now they had to retreat and reorganize their army. They had taken great loses the last few months and if they wanted to be a countable enemy to the Chinese they needed to reconsider.

He found his mother in the kitchen cooking while Minseok was by the fireplace watching the news. He found the image strangely endearing and so different from the world outside. It brought some peace in his heart.

“Hey mom, Minseok,” he greeted them, his mother run to hug him.

“Hey,” Minseok said a hint of curiosity and nervousness in his voice.

  
“How have you been?” Lu Han asked his mother. “Were the money I sent you enough?”

“Everything is fine here. Don’t worry about me. Your friend is healed as well,” she said turning back to look at Minseok.

“I am better yes, thanks to your mother, she took really good care of me,” Minseok replied politely.

“I am glad,” Lu Han smiled. “Can I talk to you, in private?”

“Yes of course,” Minseok followed Lu Han to the next room.

“So, well firstly I need to know if I can trust you,” Lu Han said eyeing the other.

“Well don’t you think it’s kind of late for that? I have been living with your mother for a month, I am a trained assassin and soldier I could have killed her and be gone without you even knowing. So what you think?” Minseok raised a brow.

“Fair enough. Listen, I don’t know if you are willing for something like this but there is a rumor that some Korean generals and politicians are trying to start an army of their own against Japan, in order to take back Korea. More like a guerilla style army. I don’t know if the name Lee Beom Seok rings any bell to you?”

“No, not really, but I have been gone from Korea for years I don’t really know anyone there,” Minseok explained.

“So does that mean that you wouldn’t be interested of joining it?”

“I would but can I ask you why are you doing it? We are enemies we should be fighting right now.”

“Well,” Lu Han scratched his head. “You saved my life once and you don’t seem that much of a threat…”

“Excuse me?” Minseok gaped. “Not much of a threat?”

“Well, you know you are kinda small and cute and the way your hair fall into your eyes makes you look… playful.” It was true Lu Han noticed, Minseok’s hair had grown longer since the last time he saw the other. Black strands were falling over his round brown eyes. You could clearly see how young he was despite the hardships he had been through.

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or weirded out right now but thanks Lu Han,” Minseok faked a smile. What kind of creep did he run into.

“Well I tried for a compliment.”

“Look at you getting all red,” Minseok teased.

“Oh please. Now are you in or out? Do I need to take you to prison or what?” Lu Han tried to regain his composure.

“Nah take me to that General it’s been a while since I started fighting for those bastards.” Minseok doubted the Japanese would care about a lost Korean child and wasn’t he a criminal either way? Would it matter if he changed sides? He had a chance to fight for his country shouldn’t he grad it?

 

 

As 1940 rolled into and the Japanese started facing difficulties in administering their territories, they started creating friendly puppet governments in the conquered territories, most prominently the Nanjing Nationalist Government headed by former premier Wang Jingwei. This caused a series of problems to the Chinese Nationalist Government and the newly formed Korean Liberation Army.

Both organizations worked together against the Japanese securing their areas and slowly advancing and regaining the conquered ones. On the north, the Soviets were also fighting for Manchuria while the Japanese had opened another front with the Americans. Lu Han and Minseok fought side by side in many occasions the one adapting to the other’s fighting style making the best duo. Their teams, even with the vast difference of experience and training – Minseok’s team consisted of volunteered farmers or Korean civilians that lived in China after their lost their homes to the Japanese – worked great together.

Lu Han who was one of the best snipers covered Minseok who was more skilled in hand to hand battle as he advanced into the enemy’s territory. Most operations they did were at night covered into the forests around Yangtze River.

 

One particular night was very difficult for them. They were closed to the old city of Yichang. The previous day there had been excessive bombing in the area making it difficult to walk around. There were still fires here and there burning slowly. The Chinese had managed to get the city back and evacuate it from the people that were left behind, alive.

Minseok, Lu Han and their teams had to search the area for any ambushes from the Japanese before the rescue team could search for any other survivors. It was a common strategy of the Japanese, to live suicide troops, the kamikazes, behind that would wait for the Chinese to come and collect their dead or clean the city. In numerous occasions they had cause great damage to the Chinese army not counting the collateral damage.

That day, apart from the occasional shooting and yelling they could hear in the distance, there was a big explosion that made everyone shiver.

“Landmines!” Tao yelled, his eyes filled with fear.

They looked at the ground ahead of them. Who knew where they would have place them or how many.

“Lu Han what are we going to do?” Yi Xing asked.

“Separate, keep at least two meters distance between you and be careful,” he commanded. He was extremely nervous himself. He had never encountered a battle field like this. He had only heard of it in his training. Was the distance enough? What would he have to tell to his comrades, to his friends to protect them?

“Be careful,” Minseok whispered before leaving his side.

They moved forward a few steps looking left and right for any movement. Cold sweat was running on Lu Han’s back. He adjusted his gun. He gulped as he took another step.

An explosion was heard from Lu Han‘s left not many meters away. He saw Yi Fan flying in the air before falling to the ground. Without thinking he run towards his friend. “Yi Fan! Are you alright?” he asked falling into his knees and examining the other.

“Yeah, yeah it wasn’t me I am ok,” the other replied holding his head. The explosion depriving him from his hearing on the left side. “I am just dizzy.”

“Who was it then?” Yi Xing asked looking at the whole the mine had created.

“Tao,” Lu Han breathed.

“No, no Tao can’t be there he was further to the left he..” Yi Xing fell next to his friends, his mouth open, his fists closed tight, nails digging into skin. “No”

“It was Tao, next to Yi Fan,” Lu Han said once more, pain written all over his features. He couldn’t move.

At the place where Tao had stepped in now there was only a whole in the ground, a small fire burned in the middle.

Lu Han didn’t know how much time it had passed before Minseok came and shook them out of their stupor. “We need to go, we can’t stay long at the same place. Come.”

And so they left and to Lu Han it felt like he had left another piece of him behind.

 

 

Days passed. Battles were fought. People came and go. Changsha was taken at the fourth attempt of the Japanese.

It was already 1944, the war was slowly coming to its end. The Americans had become a part of it and where helping the Chinese against Japan. The Japanese had already launched their last plan, their last resource. Operation Ichi Go. Major battles throughout China in order to reach French Indochina and destroy the American air bases.

Soon came the order for Lu Han and Yi Xing, they would go South to Guangxi to block one the routes the Japanese would take if they were to trust their informers.

Minseok had different orders. The Koreans were ordered to help the British close to the city of Imphal in India, he had left earlier that month.

In their last night, Minseok and Lu Han decided to stay awake instead of sleeping, they didn’t know when they would see each other again. If they would see each other again. “Be careful and come back alive” Minseok had said before he got on the plane. “Don’t forget me” Lu Han had whispered to him.

‘I love you’ can be said in different ways.

 

 

_December 1945 – Seoul, Korea_

If you asked him, Minseok couldn’t remember when was the last time he stepped his foot on Korean ground. Korean. Seoul now belonged to Koreans. No one was there to control them, to order them around, to take their money, their families. They were free.

He started working for the military again. Now in a different position. He was assigned to train men for special military operations. He had a house and food. He believed that better days would come.

He visited his hometown, saw his destroyed house, his family’s grave. He cried again after all these years.

For some time, he kept sending messages to Lu Han’s mother, the last address he had of her at least. For some time he got responses. When he last heard of her she told him that she had lost track of Lu Han for months. Then every letter he sent came back to him. After a while he stopped trying.

 

 

_January 1945 – Beijing, China_

It took Lu Han and Yi Xing five months to return back to their home place. Lu Han’s home was of course destroyed. They were given a small house more as a congratulation to still be alive and surviving the war. Or was it because of his father position when he was still alive? At first, they were fools to think that it was over. That their government would make it work.

Soon the civil war started. They were given guns and ordered to kill people that they had fought side by side not too long ago just because they had different political beliefs. For some politics were important, for the tired and starved soldiers it didn’t mean anything anymore.

And so they fought and fought and fought with only one thought in mind, _‘survive’_.

 

 

_November 1950 – Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Korean Peninsula_

It was pouring. General Park had ordered them to go on patrol in the wounds close to the old borders of Manchuria. They had made crucial victories and had a steady course into the enemy’s territory. Days ago this land belonged to other.

Minseok was leading the team being the one with the most experience between the soldiers. How long had it been? Five? Ten years? He didn’t know anymore. He was born in war, raised and participated in another. He just hoped he wouldn’t die in one too.

He walked carefully, it was a part of the forest that a fight took place the previous morning. It was their now but they had to investigate it. More times than not they would find a dead body. Soldiers from both sides with bodies full of holes. Blood stained leaves and tree roots.

They heard noise from the east, someone was there. Minseok’s hand went instantly to his gun, steading it. He requested two of his companions to go towards the direction of the noise while he and two others would make a circle. It wasn’t easy to see in the dark without flashlights so they should be really careful.

He moved as fast as he could, close to the ground, gun in hand. He was trained for this. There was a black spot in front of him. A rock making a small cave enough for a man to hide in. He signaled his companions to move around it. He knew someone was there. He could hear him breathing, hard. He was injured, frightened.

“Hands up, you are surrounded. Come out!” Sehun said, his voice steady. He was young. Probably as young as Minseok was when he first got into the military. But he was strong and a good soldier. His physique making him look older and brave. But he was still a child. A child that Minseok wished could be free and happy, enjoying his life instead of seeing his family and friends being murdered in front of his eyes.

The man sighed. He slowly got up from the hole, limping. There was a wound in his leg. Probably from a gunshot but not too deep. He had his hands up, covered in blood. A Chinese soldier judging from the uniform.

“Lift your head, we need to see your face,” Sehun demanded.

The man obeyed, wincing in pain as he did so. “Lu Han?” Minseok asked almost dropping his gun. He would recognize this man everywhere. But it couldn’t be. Why was he here? Why did he have to be here?

Lu Han couldn’t be laugh at the irony.

 

 

After the end of the civil war, Lu Han thought he would have a chance to stay away from guns and tanks and bullets and everything. It wasn’t a long time since his country came at peace. If you can even call it peace. At least you didn’t hear about bombs falling day after day.

Ever since the Communist Party took officially over and the country started the rebuilding, he started looking for his family. The last time he had heard of them was six years ago, when he left for Guangxi and his mother escaped to Hong Kong.  

He didn’t know about his mother’s luck. Firstly, he went to Changsha where he had last seen her but she wasn’t there. Then he moved back to Beijing. Eventually, he found out she had died as well.

It was ok. In his years in the army, Lu Han had seen a lot of people dying and a lot of people losing their loved ones and in those years he had also become accustomed to the idea of being alone.

A couple of years later came the order for joining the battalion that would go to assist Koreans that lived in the North of the Peninsula and Soviets. The order didn’t explain a lot but in a war, you didn’t need an explanation if you were ordered to do something. He didn’t want to go to say the truth. He wanted a life away from wars but he had to. He was one of the few that had survived his country’s last 3 wars, he was one of the few to be this skilled and experienced. The “no” option was never there for him.

He packed his belongings, the few things he could bring with him, an old photo of his family, a notebook and some clothes and two days later he was at the front fighting with Koreans and Americans. Yi Xing always next to him.

They hadn’t told them that it was this bad. That their side had lost half the area they vindicated in a week. As soon as they reached the camps they were separated into teams. But they were tired and merely prepared. Lu Han’s team was soon encircled.

Someone from behind threw a grenade. It landed fairly close to him throwing him to the ground and depriving him of hearing for a fair amount of time. He was injured he realized belatedly, his leg blooded. He tied a piece of fabric around it and held his gun tightly as he tried to crawl away from the battlefield. It wasn’t time for heroism he needed to survive. He had learned that years ago.

He got up and limped to the woods. The sun had almost set either way. He could hide there for a while and leave when the night fell. He found a hole made by some rocks and hide in there. Waiting for a good moment. As soon as the dark fell completely the gunshots stopped signaling the end of the battle for the day. Soon soldiers from both sides would come out to search for their dead. He could leave after.

When he heard people approaching, at first he wasn’t sure which side they were from. They spoke Korean which didn’t make much difference at the time. He held his breath trying to stay as close to the rock to no avail. They had heard him when he tried to reposition himself and get a better cover. They asked him to come out and so he did.

“Lu Han?” a familiar voice asked.

Lu Han frowned. “Minseok?” he saw the other lower his gun as he sighed.

 

They led Lu Han to their camp. There were some other Chinese soldiers there he realized. They left him waiting in a room alone. He knew this procedure. He had caught prisoners before. They would interrogate him, torture him, lock him up. Depending on what they wanted and how important he seemed. Why did this happen on his first day there?

He heard the door open but couldn’t see who was due to the cloth that they had placed on his head. He felt someone kneeling next to him before the cloth was pulled. He took a deep breath enjoying the fresh air. “Minseok what are you doing here?” he asked as he laid his eyes upon the man next to him.

Minseok cupped his cheeks checking him thoroughly. “Oh god, I am glad you are ok? When you stopped replying to my letters I thought you died. Why did you come here?”

“Letters? What are you talking about I haven’t got a letter after you left for Korea,” Lu Han replied still breathing hard.

“You didn’t? Why? Anyway, it doesn’t matter you are alive you are ok. We are both alive. But Lu Han why are you here now?” Minseok asked. He needed to know. Word was spread that China would send troops but this soon?

“Order came three days ago. We were called here to help the Soviets. We got here this morning. We run into a trap by the Greeks. I didn’t even know they were here. Some Americans came after assisting them. We were less in number. I got injured and hide where you found me. I was planning to leave before you caught me,” Lu Han explained seeing Minseok’s worried expression.

“Oh my god,” Minseok his hand lingering on Lu Han’s shoulder. “Look, I came here just to see how you are. I can’t really do something at the moment. They will come to interrogate you, you know the procedure. But they will probably take you as a prisoner. I am so sorry Lu Han I will try to talk them out.”

“It’s ok Minseok, I already figured as much,” Lu Han tried to change position but he winced as his leg sent him a sharp pain. Sitting on the floor for hours with tied hands didn’t help. He cried in pain.

That got Minseok’s attention who turned his gaze towards Lu Han’s injured leg. It wasn’t a deep wound really but it needed to be cleaned and bandaged. “Wait I will go find something to clean this,” he said before leaving as carefully as he could.

He came soon enough, a first aid kit in hand. He cleaned the wound as meticulously as he could and put the ripped cloth Lu Han had used to hide it. “I need to go now for real. They will come soon. I will try to come back.”

“Minseok,” Lu Han said helplessly. “Be careful,” it was more a plea than anything else. Lu Han needed Minseok to come back safe. He needed to have someone there. Now that he had found him again he wanted to have at least some time with him.

“I will. You too!” they stared at each other for a long moment. Years of separation making it difficult to separate once again. “I need to put this back on. Or else they will know someone was here,” Minseok said lifting up the cloth that was used to blindfold Lu Han.

“I know. Now go!” As much as he wanted Minseok there with him, he didn’t want to cause the other any problem. He watched as the other’s shadow left the room leaving him alone again.

Indeed, soon enough Minseok’s higher-ups came. They didn’t do him any harm. It was obvious that he didn’t know much just like the other Chinese soldiers they had caught. Neither did Lu Han know what they might need to know. They told him they would take him with them. It was understandable, he was thankful they even kept him alive considering what he had heard about prisoners.

 

The next day, as Lu Han presumed, Minseok came again. “Missed me?” he asked.

“Very!” Lu Han replied with a smile. “How are you?” he asked eyeing the blood stains on Minseok’s uniform.

“Oh, I am fine I was carrying a fellow soldier he got some serious injuries. He is at the nursery room now,” Minseok asked settling better next to Lu Han.

“Where did you go? How is the battle going?” Lu Han all but cared about the battle at the moment but he also had to know if he would ever get a chance of leaving.

“We are still winning if that’s what you ask,” Minseok smiled, his childish smile as if they were young and naïve anymore.

Lu Han couldn’t help but smile as well. “I bought you some food by the way,” Minseok mentioned showing Lu Han the small slice of bread he had stuffed in his pocket. “Sadly I only could bring some bread. We don’t get to eat a lot lately. Supplies take a long time to arrive.”

“It’s great Minseok really thank you!” Lu Han said looking at the piece of bread. He didn’t remember the last time he ate. Soldiers rarely ate anything to be honest, these wars hadn’t been named “the starving wars” for nothing.

“Here let me help you,” Minseok offered to slice the bread and giving a piece to the Chinese man. Lu Han noticed how scratched Minseok’s hands had been. “It’s nothing. You forgot how tough I am?”

Lu Han laughed. “Right the toughest of them all!” And Minseok really was. He had grown to be a tough man that could deal with anything yet his eyes could still carry that playfulness and sincerity of a child. Minseok’s eyes had always been mesmerizing and Lu Han found himself lost in them again after all those years of separation.

Minseok was staring back at him with a perplexed expression and a faint hint of emotions. He rose his hand to give another bite to the other, his fingers touching the other’s lips. It had been a while, a long and painful while since they last saw each other. All this time Minseok thought that Lu Han had died is some battle and that he had lost him forever and yet here he was, staring back at him with those big sparkling brown eyes. His hair longer than Minseok could remember, the black stands falling above his eyes.

Minseok leaned in before he could register what he was doing. Their lips touching softly. It merely lasted a few seconds but it was enough to increase the tension between them.  

“I need to leave,” Minseok said as he stood up and practically run for the door. Lu Han was left alone again and the only thing he could do was sigh. It would be difficult for them to talk about the past but he hoped that it would be easier to share a future.

 

 

Lu Han couldn’t know what time or day it was. He estimated that it had been two weeks since he had been caught by Minseok’s team. Various people came by. Sometimes the General would come and question him about something that they had found out, other times it would be Minseok’s friends bringing him food or Minseok himself. Minseok came almost every night. When he didn’t his friends told Lu Han that he was on patrol and that only made Lu Han more worried.

One day, Sehun, one of Minseok’s friends came into the room and run to Lu Han getting him on his feet. “Quick, come, we need to leave immediately.” He tagged Lu Han along as he went outside the room not wasting a moment.

“Wait what happened? Where are we going?” Lu Han asked trying to follow the other, his tied hands not helping him run fast enough. They were going down a long corridor of what it seemed to be an abandoned building.

Lu Han had the chance to look the outside world for the first time in weeks by the shattered windows. Though what he saw looked more like a ghost city than anything else.

“We are leaving, the Chinese and Soviets are coming. They made great progress during the night from both east and west borders. An informer said they are 10 miles away. We need to abandon this place and go to a secure location if we don’t want to get encircled,” Sehun said as he went down the stairs three steps at the time.

When outside, Lu Han could see the extent of the damage that had been done to the city in full. Burned and blown buildings, overturned vehicles, blooded roads, and destroyed properties. “Lu Han,” he heard Minseok saying as he approached him and cut his ties. “Here,” the other said as he gave Lu Han a gun and a knife. “You know what to do.”

“Yeah,” Lu Han said hiding the knife in his boot and weighing the gun.

“Good we need to be fast. Kyungsoo is everything ready?” Minseok turned to another soldier adjusting his backpack. They were taking as many supplies as they could.

“Wait, Minseok-,” Lu Han cut in before Kyungsoo could reply. “Where are the others?”

“The Generals left earlier we are the last team here. We need to make sure that we would delay the enemy,” Minseok replied.

“No, I mean the prisoners. What about them?” Lu Han pried.

“Lu, I am sorry, I was not even allowed to take you officially. They are bound to be left behind,” Minseok said reaching to pat Lu Han’s shoulders. The other looked back at the old building.

“Boss, all bombs are in position,” Baekhyun said coming for behind the building.

“Bombs?” Lu Han asked turning to Minseok.

“Yeah down the road and around the building,” Baekhyun cut it.

“Minseok there are people inside. They will get killed. Oh my god, Yi Xing,” Lu Han said walking back to the building. Days ago Minseok had mentioned that they had found Yi Xing as well and took him as a prisoner. He was in worse condition than Lu Han. He had spent more days in the field and thus knew more about the strategies of the enemy. They had tortured him to get information.

“Lu Han where are you going?” Minseok yelled.

“I need to save Yi Xing,” Lu Han said with a determination not looking back.

“Boss we need to go, now!” Sehun pressed.

Minseok sighed. “Lu Han!” he said running behind the other. “Stop!” he said reaching for the others hand.

“Minseok my friend is there! Your friends is there. Do you expect me to leave him here to die?” Lu Han retorted.

“That’s my order!” Minseok said sharply.

“Like you said, your order,” Lu Han spat, anger in his voice. He looked Minseok for a moment before he turned around once more heading for the building. Memories of another battlefield coming back to him.

“I am not losing you again!” Minseok plead. “Not again.”

That made Lu Han stop in his tracks. He could see the despair in Minseok’s eyes, the anger already gone.

“Minseok, please let me go take him. I will come back,” Lu Han promised.

“Boss, I will go. You don’t even know where the bombs are. Get in the car. We don’t have much time,” Baekhyun said before hurried back into the building.

Minseok urged Lu Han into the van they had prepared. He sat next to Kyungsoo and soon enough Baekhyun returned with Yi Xing. He was supported the other by his waist, Yi Xing’s clothes ripped and full of blood.

“Go go go!” he heard the younger say to Sehun as soon as everyone was sitting.

“Oh god Yi Xing I am glad you are….alive!” Lu Han said reaching for the other. “You look terrible.” Truth be told Yi Xing looked far skinnier than Lu Han remembered him. The cuts on his arms and the bruises were clearly a sign of the methods used to retrieve information from the prisoners. Lu Han had just been….luckier.

“You don’t look better yourself,” Yi Xing retorted, glad he was able to see his old friend again. He was caught later than Lu Han by a different team since they had been separated during the first battle.

They heard the explosives blow up back in the center of the city. “Fuck they are close!” Minseok cursed. “Jongdae drive faster, go out of the main road. We don’t know what we will have to encounter.”

“Here take this,” Kyungsoo offered, giving Yi Xing a gun as well.

“Thanks. Where are we heading?” Yi Xing asked inspecting the gun.

“For now away from them,” Baekhyun said pointing towards the city. “There is a meet point close to Pyongyang but we ultimately need to reach Seoul.”

“Pyongyang won’t be safe for a while. We don’t know how far the Norths have advanced. They already took Changjin,” Kyungsoo added.

“How far are we?” Minseok asked.

“Three hours boss,” Jongdae replied his eyes never leaving the road.

“Take any shortcuts you can. We are supposed to be in our territory but we need to get as far as we can. I am afraid they will send planes in the night to inspect.”

“If you guys were where the enemy attacked why did your unit leave instead of fight?” Yi Xing asked.

“We have been here two months almost. Half our unit is gone. Little help came to support the borders. The battle at the front is on for three days now. There was no way we would win. Last week your government sent more troops to assist the Norths. Our Generals left this morning to go back to Seoul,” Baekhyun explained.

“There is another line of defense in the next city but we are called back,” Minseok finished.

Silence fell in the van, only the sound of the tires screeching as Jongdae accelerated could be heard. Lu Han stared at the landscaped they left behind. Korea was a beautiful country Minseok had said but Lu Han could see the remaining of the war wherever he looked. 

 

 

“We just passed Pyongyang,” Sehun remarked. Lu Han didn’t know exactly how much time it had past but it was enough for almost everyone on the van to fall asleep. Only he and Kyungsoo were awake. The later seemingly highly alert.

“Jongdae turn off the lights we should be as inconspicuous as we can” he said.

After what seemed like half an hour the van came to a stop. It was far into the night, the stop waking the others.

“Are we there yet?” Baekhyun yawned.

“Tell them to change their uniforms if they want to get to the camp,” Sehun replied, his Chinese not in a good enough level to converse with the new additions to their team. Lu Han’s and Yi Xing’s Korean were rusty enough at the moment.

“Change your jackets,” Minseok said giving Lu Han and Yi Xing a Korean military uniform. When they were ready he signaled Jongdae to continue.

Soon after they made it to the camp. Jongdae parked the van and Lu Han followed the others at what seemed to be the dorm of the soldiers while Minseok went to inform his higher-ups.

“Finally some food and a bathroom,” Yi Xing whispered to Lu Han. The other nodded silently taking his surroundings.  It was another old building although in a way better condition than the one they used to be. This one though it wasn’t it a city. It had the structure of a proper military camp. Vans and tanks were parked outside equipped with heavy machinery.

Small buildings and tents in khaki color, soldiers, and nurses working around.

“Yi Xing,” he heard Baekhyun saying, flashing a smile. “Let’s go see that wound you have in your arm. I doubt it got proper treatment.”

They would have a tent themselves, Minseok’s team. Lu Han followed Sehun and Kyungsoo to the “showers” where there was nothing more than a couple of water hoses and soap. Maybe this night, at least this night, he could get some sleep. Jongdae and Chanyeol on the other hand went to unload the van.

 

Soon Yi Xing and Baekhyun returned from the nursery. They both sat at the empty beds getting rid of their jackets and hopping inside the single blanket as quietly as they could. Yi Xing sighing in relief. How long had it been since he last laid down? The best he could do in his previous cell was sit given how tight his ropes were.

“Are you ok?” Baekhyun asked eyeing the other.

“Never been better, “Yi Xing smiled, the cutest smile Baekhyun had ever seen. Not that it was a time that many people smiled but from the ones he had seen this was definitely his favorite.

“What made you come here?” he asked.

“An order,” Yi Xing replied without missing the pace.

“No,” Baekhyun smiled, “I mean why you joined the army? Why this life?”

“There wasn’t another option. I am an orphan, I was raised by Lu Han’s parents because my mother knew his, when Lu Han’s father joined we knew that we would have to join as well. I was born in a war, raised in one and probably going to die in one. What else could I do? Work? As what?” Yi Xing sighed. “You?”

“I just followed my father here. He had joined the Japanese Imperial Army after they took our farm so I joined as well. After that I kind of stack here.” Baekhyun explained. “But let me tell you, I like the whole pyrotechnic thing, not the blowing but the art behind it. If this war ever stops I want to make fireworks and make the children happy”

“So it was your job? The bombing before?” Yi Xing asked, turning to lay on his side.

“The whole thing!” Baekhyun said with pride.

“So how do you deal with the thought that people die from it?”

“I prefer to not think about that. As I prefer to not think about the people I have left behind. What difference will make? Yesterday you were in China now you are here tomorrow you might not be. How many people, comrades, and family have you lost?” They conversation had taken a weird turn but it was common among soldiers. This was their life what else was there to talk about?

“In this war or the previous? Too many to count or remember..” Yi Xing trailed of.

“How do you handle it? Killing someone?” Baekhyun returned the question.

“I…don’t. At the beginning, I felt horrible.”

“I would like to meet you outside all this,” Baekhyun said staring the other.

“Me too, Baekhyun” Yi Xing replied returning the stare.

They kept their conversation for as long as their tired bodies allowed them.

 

When Lu Han woke up the next day the sun had barely risen. People were already moving around preparing for their duties.

He saw Minseok getting up and he followed the other out of their tent. “Minseok, can we talk?”

Minseok sighed. “Look if it’s about what I said yesterday, I just didn’t want you to go in there. We had to leave.”

“So you didn’t mean anything by that?” Lu Han asked testing.

“No, nothing, I just didn’t want to compromise my team and you were about doing so,” Minseok stated, finality in his voice.

“Cool I understand,” came Lu Han’s reply before he turned back to the tent, the turn of events saddening him. He had thought that maybe he and Minseok could go back to what they had been before they parted. Of course they had never really talked openly about their relationship but to Lu Han it seemed like the kisses they shared deep in the forests or behind abandoned buildings would mean more to the other. He was apparently wrong.

Minseok sighed before going to the meeting.

 

 

Despite their initial plan of staying at the camp for only a few days, they had been there for two weeks already seeing they could successfully fight the soviets. Lu Han and Yi Xing had already adapted to the other army’s schedule. Minseok had to spent hours talking his higher ups into accepting them.

Lu Han was working as vehicle engineering mostly helping with small repairs and Yi Xing at the nursery. They didn’t trust them with guns or in the front line.

It was fine though. They had a shelter and could repay them for keeping them alive. Minseok and his team was leaving early in the morning and carried supplies to the front, even fight from time to time.

More times than not they could hear bombings in the distance and airplanes flying. People came and left. Mostly Americans and some Greeks. They were a small unit but they helped a lot. They had heard that at other camps there were soldiers from other countries like Britain or Australia but they hadn’t seen any yet.

It was one of those days that they heard the bombing. It had to be close because there were even times they could feel the ground shaking.

Lu Han was coming back to the tents as he saw the trucks coming fast. He saw Yi Xing along with the nurses coming out of the small nursery stretches in hand. In between of the injured soldiers, he recognized Baekhyun’s lifeless body. He was covered in blood. Minseok and Kyungsoo were helping to carry him out of the truck.

As Lu Han was about to run to them he heard the humming of an airplane engine. Far, from the east, there was a Tupolev coming fast. “Incoming!” he shouted, running to take cover as the airplane started shouting. Right behind it, there was a MiG-15 that dropped a bomb right in the middle of the camp. Lu Han managed to get covered soon enough but it wasn’t the same for those in the trucks. The bombing turning some of the trucks and injuring several. A tent was on fire and shouts could be heard.

Lu Han soon realized that the planes were coming again though. He had to act fast. He slid to the closest turned truck asking a fellow soldier’s help. They quickly positioned its machinery towards the sky. He would have only one chance to hit at least the MiG. He laid down and waited for the plane to get into position. He fired the best he could and hit its left wing. It wouldn’t take the plane down but it would stop it from turning back for a while. Next to him other soldiers were firing at the planes as well.

He looked to his left were Minseok’s truck was. It wasn’t hit directly but they weren’t uninjured either. Apart from Baekhyun now Kyungsoo sported a serious enough burn on his leg from the explosions that occurred. He couldn’t spot Minseok so he run as fast as he could.

“Soo, are you alright?” he asked as he reached the other helping him stand.

“Don’t worry about me, go see the others!” Kyungsoo said his face contorted with pain.  

Lu Han turned around searching for anyone. Sehun was there, uninjured already kneeling over Minseok. The other was ok though just disoriented. On the other hand, amongst the chaos and the bodies he spotted Baekhyun and Yi Xing. He run to them. Yi Xing was laying onto Baekhyun as if he was providing shield to the other. They were both covered in blood. A whole piercing through theirs bodies, result of the fire the Tupolev has shot.

Lu Han chocked. “No”, he said falling to his knees. He turned Yi Xing the other way, his usually peaceful face lifeless. He was old Lu Han realized. He wasn’t the 10 year old boy he remembered, his best friend, the boy who followed him out of the burning Beiping. He was a man, tired, dead.

Next to him was laying Baekhyun. Lu Han could see the previous injury that he had got, his leg practically destroyed. Minseok came to him falling next to the other.

“Baekhyun” he said poking the other. “BAEKHYUN” he yelled shaking him. Sehun came and hugged him to stop him, tears in his eyes.

“Hyung, he is gone”, he whispered, Lu Han barely hearing him.

Around them chaos, soldiers running to put out the fire, nurses and doctors trying to treat the wound ones, generals giving orders to count their casualties and prepare if there would be another attack.

Lu Han felt numb. He couldn’t move, he could only stare at Yi Xing. He reached to close the others eyes, to dust the dirt from his hair. He held his friend in his arms for the last time before the soldiers took him away. They would put all the dead in a tent before they could bury them.

 

Soon the order came. They would evacuate this camp as well. The first to go were the doctors with the injured, they would head to Seoul. Their team would leave early in the morning, other troops already left late the previous night. Lu Han couldn’t sleep though. He saw Minseok going out of their tent and followed him to the tent they had left the dead.

He was kneeling in front of Baekhyun when Lu Han reached him, his thin cheeks stained with tears.

“Minseok”, he said, touching his shoulder. The other man turning to look at him. Lu Han couldn’t remember if he had ever seen Minseok this sad, broken.

“He was my best friend Lu Han, he was the only one I had and now he is gone. Everyone I had is gone.”

Lu Han reached to the other and hugged him close. “I am still here Minseok. I know it hurts, I know,” he said looking over at Yi Xing’s body. “I know but there are other people that care about you, your team, me. We won’t leave you.”

“I am tired. I am tired of losing people, of fighting, of wearing uniforms, of everything,” Minseok cried. “I don’t want to do this anymore, Lu Han,” he said his body shaking.

“Let’s leave,” Lu Han said after a while.

Minseok turned to look at him as if he had grew a second head. “Go where?”

“Anywhere but here,” Lu Han said serious.

“You can’t be serious,” Minseok returned, walking away from the other.

“The most I have ever been”, the other continued staring Minseok in his eyes, reaching to keep him close. “You want to leave. Let’s go. I can’t live in here anymore either.”

Minseok was staring at him, speechless. He didn’t know what to make of it. Lu Han, the one he once thought was his life, the only person he could love until he lost him and he persuaded himself that he would never find anyone if he so managed to survive the war. But here he was standing in front of him, offering him a life outside the war, outside this fallen country.

“I love you,” Lu Han said as if he was reading Minseok’s mind. “I lost you once and there hasn’t been a day I am not regretting leaving you. I don’t want to do this again. Please, let’s go. We might be able to leave without anyone noticing.”

“Ok”, Minseok said cautiously. He still wasn’t sure how this could happen.

“Just, Minseok, be sure that this is what you want. If we leave now you will be considered a defector and might never be able to come back to your country.”

“Was it ever my country? How long have I been here? And what country is it exactly? Is it Korea? Japan? Let’s go,” Minseok replied now determined to leave and find a place that he could call home.

“I might be able to help you leave” Chanyeol said from the door he was standing.

“How long have you been here?” Minseok asked getting up.

“Enough,” the other replied. “But I want to help so don’t worry.”

“Just, I want to do something before leaving,” Minseok stated before looking back at his friend’s body. “I want to bury Baekhyun first, properly.”

“I will go get the others,” Chanyeol offered, no questions asked. Chanyeol had always been a stead up guy. He was always there for his friends, he would give his life for them. Minseok hoped that he could get a better future.

 

They moved Baekhyun and Yi Xing in an empty place behind the camp. Not many people were awake and the ones that were didn’t pay them attention. They cleaned their bodies with water and dressed them with clean clothes, their military identity in their necks. They dig a cesspool and put their friends inside. Chanyeol prayed and Sehun dropped some flowers before they started filling it up again.

“Goodbye,” Jongdae whispered.

The next morning they packed their track and started their journey to Seoul. Everyone knew Minseok’s and Lu Han’s plan, they invited them to come along but they declined. “Yeri is waiting for me, I can’t leave now”, Sehun had said while they others just claimed they wanted to stay. They were all much younger than Minseok and Lu Han. Only in their twenties.

When they reached Seoul they headed to the main military camp. The situation in the supposed to be capital wasn’t better that what they had faced so far. Under Chanyeol’s instructions Minseok went to inform their higher ups as he was supposed to do while Lu Han stayed with the others. Their bags were ready and waiting, they didn’t have much anyway, Lu Han’s backpack that he had brought from China was somewhere in the North’s camps maybe even discharged as he should have been pronounced dead or missing by now. The only things he had was the photo he always carried with him, Yi Xing’s dagger  and some clothes he got from the Koreans. Minseok on the other hand had some money with him that would help them travel and survive for a few days. They would try to get a job as fast as they could.

When Minseok returned, Chanyeol who had gone to arrange some things about they travel came back as well.

“You will fly with the next Australian troops back to Australia. I had a friend there and he can overlook the extra charge”, he told them. “I don’t know how your english is but that’s the best I can offer.”

“It’s great Yeol, thank you, thank you so much,” Minseok hugged the other.

“You are leaving tonight good luck,” the giant said.

 

A part of Minseok was worried. This whole thing seemed to have happened too easily for them. A foolish choice, a coward choice some might say. But Minseok was fed up. Another part of him was expectant, happy they could be free in a land so far away from the war. A fresh start.

As they were told, Lu Han and Minseok boarded the Australian aircraft following them back to their country. It was a long trip but uneventful.

The first few days were difficult, they were offered a room in a shelter and they tried to go around the town of Sydney and communicate with the locals. A fellow soldier helped them soon find a job in some garage where they helped repairing military vehicles. In time they managed to get a house themselves and find a better job.

Together they were the happiest they had ever been. They had never had a proper home themselves and they didn’t know how to cook either but Minseok soon made friends with some old ladies in the neighborhood who taught him how too. After a while Lu Han bought a grass cutting machine and they made a small kitchen garden like the one Minseok used to steal from.  

Even though Minseok had never been at school or received proper education, apart from his military one, he was a quick learner in whatever he tried to do. Lu Han on the other hand who had gone to school enrolled for some engineering classes and finally got a diploma, which helped him get a better job.

More times than not they would wake up in the middle of the night from a sudden noise that might have been a street cat that had dropped something or the branches of a tree hitting the window. It took Minseok ten years to stop keeping a dagger by his night stand and Lu Han to wake up from nightmares of the people he had left behind. Even though some wounds never really heal they managed to get better, together.

 

Years later when they returned to Seoul they found out Sehun had grown up to be a great man, having his own family and small business. Chanyeol and Jongdae had opened a small barbeque, while Kyungsoo had returned to his hometown living as a farmer.

Everything had fallen into pace and in the very end peace seemed to have found them all.


End file.
